Optimize Finale's Defaults

In the "Optimize" section you can select which document options should be changed to the plug-in's optimized values.
The plug-in can update Finale's settings for slurs, ties, hairpins, tuplets and spacing.
Slur values are only updated in the Smart Shape Options menu, not in the Placement or Contour menu.
These values are hard-coded in the plug-in and result from many years of Finale® expertise.
Still it's possible that they don't fit your personal needs, so you can switch off these settings individually.
As JW Lua doesn't allow slur modification, it's also possible that some slurs still have little collisions with notes as there are no all-purpose settings for slurs.

The plug-in will also automatically update the staff line, stem line, bar line and ledger line thicknesses unless you have changed them manually to values where the thicknesses are not equal.
For better readability it is recommended to have different values for each type. The plug-in will apply these thicknesses:

For better quality the plug-in will also set the Curves Resolution to 127 (from Document Options->Lines and Curves).
The "Double barline preceding key changes" feature will also be enabled automatically.
It's currently not implemented to switch off these features.

You can adjust the baseline position and the baseline and entry offsets for dynamics and expressive text.
The baseline position is the vertical offset from the middle of the staff lines.

This will update the placement and alignment of all existing expressions. Expressions from other categories will be corrected, so that they stay at the original position.
While the "Below Staff Baseline Position" affects expressive text and dynamics expressions, the "Above Staff Baseline" mainly affects tempo marks, rehearsal marks and tempo alterations.

For the Perfect Layout plugin the baseline always means the closest position to the staff line. If there is a collision, the expression will be horizontally or vertically shifted, but never closer to the staff.
There is only one exception: dynamics are shifted slightly closer to the staff, if the "Shift Dyn. Expressions Up If Lowest Element is Staff Line" is selected in the "Express." tab.

When the tuplet default settings are updated, Finale® doesn't automatically update the existing tuplets.
If you want to have the tuplet settings copied to each tuplet, select "Copy Default Settings to Tuplets".
If "Optimize Tuplet Settings" is selected, the settings are always copied to the existing tuplets.

The default placement for tuplets is the stem side.
But there are situations where it makes more sense to place them via the "Above" or "Below" method.
In order not to overwrite these above/below tuplets with the default settings, the option "Copy Default Settings Also on Explicit 'Above' or 'Below' Tuplets" is unchecked by default.

For better readability tuplets on extreme low or high notes can get their brackets on the note side (instead of the stem side).
Check "Put Tuplet Brackets on Notes Above Staff Position X on Top" for that feature. X is the minimum staff position where this feature is activated:
1 means the first ledger line, 2 the space between the first and the second ledger line, 3 the second ledger line and so on.
By default this option is selected and affects notes on the second ledger line and above.
This feature always works on tuplets above and below the staff.

Image 1:
Left: Original, Right: Tuplets on extreme notes are put on the note side and get brackets (X=3)

In the spacing section you can also select when a full document (re-)spacing has to take place.
You can force a full respacing by checking "Always Apply Music (Re-)Spacing to Full Document Before Processing".
This option makes sense if the part layout is still "raw" and multi-measure rests haven't been created either.
If you have applied music spacing to the document or if "Automatic Music Spacing" in Finale's preferences had been switched on (it must be switched off before running the plugin! See here), you don't need to check this option.
By default it's unchecked.

If chord symbols are found and there is at least one measure with three chords or an overlapping of chords is very likely (e.g. chords at end of measure or wide chord suffices), a (re-)spacing is always performed, when the option "Always Respace If Chords Found" is selected.

When the spacing settings are optimized, a (Re-)spacing is only applied to the document if "Force Full Document Respace If Major Spacing Settings Change" is checked.
It is selected by default.

Other situations where the spacing may change are described in the overview.